Social Robots as the Bride? Understanding the Construction of Gender in a Japanese Social Robot Product

Abstract

This study critically investigates the construction of gender on a Japanese hologram animestyle social robot Azuma Hikari. By applying a mixed method merging the visual semiotic method and heterogeneous engineering approach in software studies, the signs in Azuma Hikari’s anthropomorphized image and the interactivity enabled by the multimedia interface have been analyzed and discussed. The analysis revealed a stereotyped representation of a Japanese “ideal bride” who should be cute, sexy, comforting, good at housework, and subordinated to “Master”-like husband. Moreover, the device interface disciplines users to play the role of “wage earner” in the simulated marriage and reconstructs the gender relations in reality. It suggests the humanization of the objects is often associated with the dehumanization and objectification of the human in reverse.

Sexual Interaction in Digital Contexts and Its Implications for Sexual Health: A Conceptual Analysis

“…The third subtype focuses on sexual interactions with software sexbots (e.g., AI-enabled chatbots; Banks and van Ouytsel, 2020 ; AI-enabled holograms; Liu, 2021 ). Those software artifacts are not tangible but invite the user to engage in social, romantic and sexual interactions and relationships.…”

Ideal technologies, ideal women: AI and gender imaginaries in Redditors’ discussions on the Replika bot girlfriend

“…The discussions on the subreddit showed that the ideal bot girlfriend corroborated classical and contemporary gender imaginaries, some of which have been identified in textual analyses of AI and robot discourses (Leyda, 2016; Liu, 2021; Phan, 2019; Strengers and Kennedy, 2021), such as women being pretty, cute, and sexy as well as manipulative and hurtful. Many conversations also repeated postfeminist discourses (Gill, 2007), from a male perspective, of sexual assertiveness and ostensibly independent preference for male interests, such as manga, anime, and basketball.…”

“…The femininity tropes assigned to the bots involve intentional stupidity (Liu, 2000), helplessness (Pietronudo, 2018), servitude (Phan, 2019;Zdenek, 2007), and childlikeness (Wood, 2002) and some of them were corroborated in our findings as well. One of the crucial features of fembots is the interplay between hyperfeminized innocent cuteness and sexiness (Leyda, 2016;Liu, 2021) and these tropes were also evoked by the Redditors we studied. However, while the gendering of bots is often clichéd, research suggests that fembots cannot be reduced to a single gender norm as they present a wide array of culturally embedded gender imaginaries (Pietronudo, 2018;Zdenek, 2007).…”

Empowering Smart Aging: Insights into the Technical Architecture of the e-VITA Virtual Coaching System for Older Adults

“…The NAO robot serves as a versatile platform for diverse interactive tasks, using speech, gestures, and other interactive behaviors to engage users. Its role within the project involves acting as a coach, providing guidance and support to elderly users; Gatebox, a device that generates a visual representation (hologram) of a virtual coach through a 3D effect [ 38 ]. The Gatebox hologram projects an avatar’s image, enabling an interactive coaching experience.…”

“…Gatebox, a device that generates a visual representation (hologram) of a virtual coach through a 3D effect [ 38 ]. The Gatebox hologram projects an avatar’s image, enabling an interactive coaching experience.…”